


Early Mornings, Longer Nights

by orphan_account



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, original timeline au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 06:13:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3925885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate timeline, the real Harrison Wells is running S.T.A.R Labs alongside Tess Morgan, his beautiful and brilliant wife. Barry Allen is lucky enough to work amongst these two nest-keepers, and doesn't take a second of it for granted as he ponders on what it means to be a family around the people you work with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Early Mornings, Longer Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Bcs Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan being the parents of S.T.A.R Labs gives me life. Dedicated to clinteastwoocl on tumblr :)

Spending mornings at work usually isn’t the best way to start the day. Spending mornings awake, even, isn’t usually an option for Barry Allen. The notion of people being conscious, functional and even productive before the sun rises above the buildings of Central City had been absurd a couple of months ago, but everything’s changed since Barry started working at S.T.A.R Labs.

Scientists are an odd group of people, and he’s saying that because he’s one of them. They’re obsessive, impulsive, and occasionally dismissive towards those who can’t keep up but– they’re still human. And Barry, well, Barry thinks he’s never met a group of better people in his life.

Behind the building, the vision, the mission of S.T.A.R Labs, is the great Harrison Wells. In his interviews, he’s sharp and candid, always open to discuss his projects, always eager to share his ideas with the world. His pride and joy, it seems, is his work and only his work.

In the lab, on the other hand, Harrison’s pride and joy are the people he works with.

“Mr. Allen, you are quite an extraordinary man. And I believe you will grow to achieve extraordinary things.” The first time he says that, Barry’s in the middle of having a breakdown after losing his powers in a freak accident.

“But I’m just a normal guy, Dr. Wells. I’m not a hero anymore, I’m just a kid who got struck by lightning.” He feels pathetic when he says it, but Harrison places a hand on his shoulder and pulls him in for a hug.

“You’re a hero to me, Barry. And we’ll help you get your powers back, trust me.”

He was right. How did he do it, then? The answer is: he didn’t. It was Tess, his wife, and the co-founder of the lab who helped Barry get his powers back.

Tess is a little more outgoing than Harrison, and a little more vocal about what she does and how she plans on getting things done. She works well with Caitlin and Cisco, especially when Harrison isn’t doing so well in the communications department, Tess will take then out for lunch, invite them to speak at lectures, anything to get them to feel more involved and confident in themselves.

She’s always the first one in the lab every morning, and Harrison would usually stroll in ten minutes after her, just because he takes longer to prepare his plans and comes down with a big, messy stack of papers and sketches. She helps him organize his desk, and at the end of the day Barry would see him sprawled on the sofa of her office, with his head on her lap as she strokes the back of his head.

They’re always in sync, not a single beat goes where the two of them aren’t on the same page, or on the same wavelength. Barry doesn’t spend as much time with her as he does with him, but he knows he trusts her.

So when she tells him to run as fast as he can into an incoming bolt of lightning, he does exactly that.

“I knew you could do it, Barry. I believed in you,” is the first thing she says once he wakes up. All he remembers is being struck by a lightning (again), and running all the way to the coast and back before collapsing on the ground. It was the closest to death he has ever been.

“I believed in you too,” he says as he manages a smile.

He watches Harrison walking towards the bedside, as he takes hold of Tess’ hand. They spend the night watching over Barry in the lab. Tess wears her pajamas and is curled up on a pile of blankets on the floor, while Harrison is spooning her from behind with his arm comfortably tucked underneath hers.

When Barry wakes up the next morning, the sight of two of them curled up together and peaceful was possibly the best way to spend a morning.

Since then, Barry has made an effort to come to work on time every single morning. He has redefined what it means to be a scientist in his mind. He used to think scientists were all about spending day after day locked up in labs, working in solitude or having a huge brain fest by yourself.

But now, being a scientist means believing in other people more than you might believe in yourself. It means trusting others, the way Harrison surrenders his work over to Tess when he has nowhere else to go. It means occasionally asking for extra help, the way Tess and Harrison convince Caitlin and Cisco to work overtime by cooking them homemade lasagna and bringing it to the office.

It means being honest with other people, like when Tess had to break the news to Barry that she accidentally revealed his identity to a meta-human when she was carrying his medical records on her way to work. It means forgiving others, despite being hurt, or scared, or confused.

There are times when scientists have to adapt to their surroundings as well, as much as they like to play by their own rules, life is much more fun when you’re slow dancing with your husband at the office at eight P.M because Cisco threw a surprise anniversary party. And then, you kiss in front of your employees, because it is your anniversary, and they have been chanting for a kiss for the past ten minutes. At first, it’s a harmless and chaste kiss, but as the night gets later and the lab slowly grows empty, you two are the only ones left and you’re wondering if there’s anything left for you to do.

You kiss him again, open-mouthed and hungry this time, and he kisses you back, flustered and awkward but just as desperate. He is your husband, and this is your company and therefore your building. The office becomes your home, and the place is all yours.

That’s what she thinks, at least, Barry is standing outside the door, realizing that he had left the keys to his house in the room. He needs it to actually go home, but he doesn’t want to be intrusive, but he really, really needs it.

So he zips into the room and leaves as quickly as he comes in. They shouldn’t even notice the door opening and closing.

He isn’t surprised when he walks in the lab the next morning to see Tess sitting in Harrison’s office, on his lap, while they’re both reading a book on astrophysics together. Harrison is playing with her hair as she reads it out loud to him and he rolls his eyes at certain sections of the book. There’s always something to criticize when it comes to the two of them and academic journals.

They’re scientists, after all. But more importantly, they’re also human.


End file.
